ERPNext for distributors who reconcile the van
by 6 PM.
Van sales reconciled in minutes. FEFO at the pick. Trade promotions priced at order entry, not after the dispute.
7 wks
Typical go-live
10 min
EOD reconciliation
FEFO
Enforced at picking
Common Challenges
The problems every FMCG distributor faces.
Van drivers running on paper. Near-expiry stock found in week 51 of 52. Trade schemes applied by guesswork. Same three pain points across every FMCG distributor we work with.
Van sales recorded on paper and reconciled at end of day
Drivers carry a notepad and a price list. Returns, exchanges, and cash collections are reconciled manually every evening. Errors slip through. Unsold stock is never counted accurately.
How we solve it
Van sales handled through ERPNext mobile app. Driver loads inventory digitally, records each sale in real time, and closes the van session with automatic reconciliation of sold, returned, and cash collected. End-of-day takes 10 minutes.
Expiry management done manually or not at all
Near-expiry stock sits in the warehouse while fresh stock gets picked first. By the time someone notices, it is too late to push the product through promotions. Write-offs are frequent and unplanned.
How we solve it
FEFO (First Expiry First Out) enforced at picking in ERPNext. Near-expiry alerts triggered automatically. You know weeks in advance which batches need to move, with time to run a promotion or push through a specific channel.
Trade scheme eligibility calculated manually by the sales team
Salespeople apply discounts and free goods manually, often inconsistently. Schemes applied to customers who do not qualify. Schemes not applied where they should be. Billing errors create disputes.
How we solve it
Trade promotions configured in ERPNext by SKU, customer tier, volume threshold, and date range. Pricing rules applied automatically at order entry. Every eligible customer gets exactly what they qualify for. No more, no less.
Retailer credit limits exceeded without anyone knowing
Sales team commits orders to retailers who are already overdue. Finance finds out at month-end. Collection becomes adversarial because the retailer has taken more credit than agreed.
How we solve it
Credit limits set per retailer in ERPNext. Van drivers and office sales staff see the credit status before confirming any order. Orders blocked automatically when the limit is exceeded unless a supervisor overrides.
How It Works
Your distribution cycle inside ERPNext.
From goods receipt to retailer collection, every step in one system.
Goods Receipt
Stock received with batch and expiry entered at dock. FEFO queue updated immediately.
Van Loading
Driver loads against an approved load order. System records exact quantities per SKU loaded.
Route Sales
Driver visits retailers, records sales and returns on mobile. Credit limit checked in real time.
Trade Promos
Pricing rules apply automatically at order entry. Eligible customers get correct scheme pricing.
EOD Reconcile
Van session closed with sold, returned, and cash reconciled. Discrepancies flagged immediately.
Collection
Outstanding retailer balances tracked per route. Collection targets assigned and monitored.
ERPNext Modules
What we configure for FMCG.
These are the modules that matter for a UAE FMCG distributor, configured for van sales, batch management, and route-to-market.
Van Sales
Full van sales workflow from morning load to end-of-day reconciliation, with real-time stock and cash visibility per driver.
- Digital van loading against approved load order
- Mobile sales entry per customer visit with live pricing
- EOD reconciliation of sold, returned, and cash collected
Batch & Expiry Tracking
Every product tracked by batch and expiry date from goods receipt to final sale, with FEFO enforced at picking.
- FEFO picking enforced in warehouse and van sales
- Near-expiry alerts configured by buffer days per SKU
- Full batch traceability from supplier to end retailer
Trade Promotions
Pricing rules, volume discounts, and free goods schemes configured per customer tier, SKU, and date range, applied automatically at order entry.
- Volume-based discounts and free goods triggers
- Customer tier pricing applied without manual intervention
- Promotion period enforcement with automatic expiry
Route & Beat Planning
Salesperson routes and retailer visit schedules managed in ERPNext so coverage is consistent and performance is measurable.
- Route assignment per salesperson with beat schedule
- Visit frequency tracking per retailer
- Call vs actual comparison to measure route compliance
Retailer Credit Control
Credit limits enforced at order entry for both office sales and van sales, with aging always visible to the relevant team.
- Credit limit check on every order and van load
- Overdue aging visible to driver and sales supervisor
- Collection target tracking per route and salesperson
Warehouse & Distribution
Inbound goods receipt with batch allocation, picking workflows, and outbound dispatch managed in a single warehouse module.
- Goods receipt with batch and expiry entry at dock
- Pick lists generated by FEFO for each dispatch
- Multi-location stock with inter-warehouse transfers
Client Result
A real FMCG implementation.
The Situation
Hive Foods makes premium honey cakes. Beautiful product, brutal logistics. Ten-day shelf life. Two legal entities, one produces, one trades. Every day, finished goods have to move between them via intercompany entries before distribution can even begin. Ten delivery vans hitting Carrefour, Lulu, mall outlets. Returns coming back from shelves at expiry. Online sales through Shopify. POS in six malls. And they were planning to do all of this in five countries. The brief wasn't 'implement ERP.' It was: 'figure out how to run all of this on one system without breaking the cake.'
What We Did
We built it the way Hive operates, entity by entity, country by country. Daily intercompany flow handled through ERPNext's native sales-and-purchase entries, automated. Production process modelled around how they actually make the cake: batter, layers, finished goods, batched at every stage. A custom batch traceability and expiry report. A driver app that handles deliveries and returns on the road, with credit notes issued on-site. Shopify pumping live data into ERPNext. POS profiles for six UAE malls and Oman outlets, all on one instance. Multi-entity replication across UAE, Kuwait, Oman, KSA, and India, five countries on a unified ERPNext, with country-specific compliance and a consolidated multi-currency report. Talabat, Noon, and an Android POS with card payment SDK are on the way. They're our most operationally complex client. Also one of the most enjoyable to work with.
Outcomes
Intercompany daily transfer process
Structured and automated in ERPNext
Batch expiry visibility
Real-time, from production through to shelf
Driver return processing
On-site via mobile app, same trip
Countries on unified ERPNext
5 (UAE, Kuwait, Oman, KSA, India)
Questions
Questions FMCG companies ask us.
How does the van sales module work in practice?
Each morning, the driver receives an approved load order in ERPNext and physically loads stock against it. During the route, they record each sale on a mobile device — customer, items, quantities, any returns. Pricing rules apply automatically. At the end of the route, the driver closes the session. ERPNext reconciles what was loaded, what was sold, what was returned, and what cash was collected. The whole process takes minutes instead of hours.
Can ERPNext enforce FEFO (First Expiry First Out) picking?
Yes. When a pick list is generated for warehouse dispatch or van loading, ERPNext automatically selects the batch with the earliest expiry date first. If you try to pick a later-expiry batch manually, the system flags it. Near-expiry alerts can also be configured to notify the warehouse manager and sales team when batches are within a defined number of days of expiry, giving them time to push through a promotion or targeted dispatch.
Our trade promotions change every month. How easy is it to update them in ERPNext?
Trade promotions in ERPNext are configured as pricing rules with a start and end date, applicable customers or customer groups, qualifying SKUs, and the benefit — discount percentage, fixed price, or free goods. Your sales or marketing team can update these without needing IT involvement. Old promotions expire automatically when their end date passes. New ones activate on their start date.
Can drivers see a retailer's credit status before making a sale?
Yes. The van sales screen shows the retailer's credit limit, current outstanding balance, and whether they are within limit before the driver confirms a sale. If the limit is exceeded, the order is blocked. A supervisor can override with their credentials if needed. This is one of the most immediate improvements our FMCG clients see: informal credit creep stops on day one.
Do you integrate with existing van tracking or mobile apps?
ERPNext has a built-in mobile interface that works on Android and iOS without a separate app. For businesses already using a specific van tracking or route planning system, we assess integration options during the discovery phase. In most cases, the ERPNext mobile module replaces the paper-based process entirely without needing a third-party integration.
FMCG Distribution ERP
Tell us about your routes.
Send us last month's trade scheme sheet and a typical driver's day. We'll show you how ERPNext would price the orders and reconcile the van, using your actual SKUs.
We typically respond within a few hours during UAE business hours.